Google axes more products, Microsoft employee pins them

“More wood behind fewer arrows”. That’s been the operating rationale of Google ever since Larry Page returned as CEO in 2011. Hardly surprising then that the product cull that began with Google Labs is ongoing.

As part of what it calls its “spring cleaning” efforts, the internet giant is killing off iGoogle, Google Mini, Google Chat Talkback, Google Video, and the Symbian Search app.

Although it wont be officially killed off until November 2013, we’ve got to admit we’re pretty bleak about iGoogle. Now where are we going to get our totally badass Loch Ness Monster Easter egg from.

According to Google, the product was launched in 2005 “before anyone could fully imagine the ways that today’s web and mobile apps would put personalized, real-time information at your fingertips. With modern apps that run on platforms like Chrome and Android, the need for iGoogle has eroded over time, so we’ll be winding it down”.

Google Video’s effectively been dead since the company stopped allowing people to upload videos back in 2009.

Talkback meanwhile allowed websites to embed a Google Talk widget so that they could engage with their visitors. The internet giant’s acquisition of social media and sharing service Meebo has effectively rendered it useless.

Even before Page returned as CEO however, Google was no stranger to culling products.

When you’re a company with practises as innovative as Google’s you’re bound to fail along the way. The search giant’s well-documented policy of having its employees dedicate 20% of their time to projects they feel passionately about has resulted in some of the company’s biggest successes. Gmail, GTalk, Google News and AdSense are all web products that have emerged from this “20% time”.

In a company that produces as many products (and it has produced many, many products) as Google, however, there will be some that fail, or just become outdated. If you think our article on some of these products is a little wordy, then a Microsoft employee has a solution for you.

The Redmond-based giant’s lead of corporate communications Frank X. Shaw has put together a pinboard on Pinterest grouping them all together.

Author | Stuart Thomas

Stuart is the editor-in-chief of Engage Me Online. After pursuing an MA in South African literature, he spent five years reporting on the global technology scene. Intrigued by the intersection of technology and work, he joined Engage Me as the editor-in-chief. He is a passionate runner, and recently ran... More